The Christmasaurus

August 1, 2018
A boy asks Santa for a dinosaur and gets a life-changing experience.Cribbing freely from any number of classic Christmas stories and films, musician/vlogger Fletcher places his 10-year-old protagonist, William, who uses a wheelchair, at the head of an all-white human cast that features his widowed dad, a girl bully, and a maniacal hunter--plus a dinosaur newly hatched from an egg discovered in the North Pole's ice by Santa's elves. Having stowed away on Santa's sleigh, Christmasaurus meets and bonds with William on Christmas Eve, then, fueled by the power of a child's belief, flies the lad to the North Pole ("It's somewhere between Imagination and Make-Believe") for a meeting with the jolly toymaker himself. Upon his return William gets to see the hunter (who turns out to be his uncle) gun down his dad (who survives), blast a plush dinosaur toy to bits, and then with a poster-sized "CRUNCH! GULP!" go down Christmasaurus' hatch. In the meantime (emphasis on "mean"), after William spots his previously vicious tormenter, Brenda Payne, crying in the bushes, he forgives trespasses that in real life would have had her arrested and confined long ago. Seemingly just for laffs, the author tosses in doggerel-speaking elves (" 'If it's a girl, can we call her Ginny?' / 'I think it's a boy! Look, he's got a thingy!' ") and closes with further lyrics and a list of 10 (secular) things to love about Christmas. Devries adds sugary illustrations or spot art to nearly every spread.Reads like a grown-up's over-the-top effort to peddle a set of kid-friendly premises--a notion that worked for the author's The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet (2017), but not here. (Fantasy. 9-11)

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September 24, 2018
In this quirky Christmas outing, William Trundle—a dinosaur enthusiast who is being teased by a bully because he uses a wheelchair—requests a real dinosaur from Santa. Luckily, a prologue explains, a single frozen dinosaur egg happens to have survived. Santa’s elves dig it up in the North Pole, and Santa reluctantly agrees to sit atop it (his “bum” is the only one big enough). Out hatches Christmasaurus: in Devries’s charming, grayscale art, the dino appears as a friendly creature with horns and a featherlike fringe around his neck. Christmasaurus—who doesn’t feel like he fits in among the elves, reindeer, and Santa—accidentally hitches a ride on the sleigh. Readers will guess that Christmasaurus and William are destined for one another—but first, a dastardly villain with a pipe and a pup intervenes. Making his middle grade debut, songwriter Fletcher offers a goofy-humored fantasy about differences, friendship, and holiday magic. Ages 8–12.

October 1, 2018

Gr 4-6-Meet William Trundle, a 10-year-old boy who loves dinosaurs, Christmas and his father. William begins his story a happy-go-lucky boy who uses a wheelchair, has lots of friends, and believes in Santa. But the school bully, Brenda Payne, torments William so that he becomes unhappy, friendless, and worried that he is a burden to his father. After a particularly bad day at school, William's father explains the power of belief and reminds William to write his letter to Santa, suggesting he ask for something that would make William happy. Nothing would make William happier than a dinosaur but in no way does he imagine that Santa would bring him a real one. So, when a mix up in the North Pole lands Christmasaurus in William's home on Christmas Eve, the face-to-face encounter is startling to them both but an instant friendship is formed. An adventure begins with the two trying to get Christmasaurus home to the North Pole and Santa; on the way they make an unlikely friend and realize that believing in something is powerful. They are also being chased by the dastardly and evil Hunter, a renown marksmen who only hunts the most unique and rare creatures in the world. Black-and-white illustrations throughout. VERDICT The book starts slow; between the backstory of the Christmasaurus and the rhyming, singing elves, it takes a while to become invested in William's story; but in the end, it is a satisfying feel-good Christmas caper.-Lisa Nabel, Kitsap Regional Library, WA

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